Spencer, of 50 Prospect St., admitted to having four small bags of marijuana on him; when officers asked Irizarry, of 1 Southfield Ave., if there was anything illegal in the car, he said no, Shawinsky said.

But when officers looked inside the BMW, they saw a revolver handle sticking out from the passenger seat that Spencer had just been sitting in, police said.

Police determined the five-shot, .38-caliber revolver was fully loaded. There were scratch marks on its the serial number, which remained legible.

After entering the number into a nationwide database of guns, police discovered the pistol was reported stolen to Brattleboro, Vt., police on May 17, 2002, Shawinsky said.

Spencer and Irizarry were each charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, illegal alteration of pistol identification numbers and stealing a firearm.